The ticking time bomb of public pensions

The Wall Street Journalreports that U.S. states “carry a total of about $325 billion in unfunded teacher pension liabilities, according to a report that says efforts by lawmakers to tinker with vesting periods or shave benefits are falling far short of the overhaul that is needed.”

Ohio, it turns out, has unfunded teacher pension liabilities of $40.7 billion, second only to Illinois, at $43.5 billion. Other heavy burdens are in Texas ($24.1 billion), Pennsylvania ($19.7 billion) and Michigan ($17.6 billion).

The report (pdf) by the National Council on Teacher Quality gives a state-by-state accounting of the problems facing teacher pensions and “concludes that recent pension changes — made by at least 22 states this year — haven't helped much and, in some cases, have harmed teachers or taxpayers.”

The Journal notes that the report “comes as most states face crushing public-employee pension debt. It is estimated there is a nearly $1 trillion gap between what states and workers have put into the systems and what the states owe in retirement benefits, though some pension experts say the shortfall could be even larger.”

School districts are feeling the burden. Since 2008, The Journal says, “40 states have raised employer contributions, generally paid by school districts, at an average cost of about $1,200 more per teacher each year.”

The report also notes that more states now make teachers work longer to fully vest in pension plans, while 27 states have increased the amount teachers must contribute to the plans.

Tracy Radich, 41, a teacher at Joseph M. Gallagher Elementary School in Cleveland, tells the newspaper that changes in Ohio mean she will have to work an extra eight years to earn full retirement benefits.

"I worry I will get worn down and not have the energies that I have now to do all I need to do for my students," she says.

He scores

If this basketball thing somehow doesn't work out for the Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving — and the overwhelming evidence so far is that it will work out quite well — he almost certainly has some good options in the marketing world.

Adweektakes a look at the most-watched commercials on YouTube this year, based on the video site's 2012 Ads Leaderboard — a list of top branded spots with at least as many organic views as paid views throughout the year.

Mr. Irving's five-minute “Uncle Drew” spot for Pepsi MAX ranked second, with 18 million views. Only a Nike soccer spot for Euro 2012 got more views, at 21 million. (And that commercial is incredible, even if you don't like soccer.)

No. 3 on the list was Volkswagen's "The Bark Side" Super Bowl teaser.

Adweek says the top 20 spots “feature a wide range of styles and themes — from comedies to dramas to mini documentaries and music videos — in varying lengths, from just 15 seconds up to five minutes. Also remarkable is the staying power of many of these spots, which continue to rack up impressive daily views many months after their release.

The state of things

The new Forbes.com rankings of the best states for business show Ohio is making some improvement, but it remains below average.

The state moved up five spots, to No. 33 on this year's list from 38 a year ago. The rankings are based on what Forbes.com calls “six vital factors” for businesses: costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life.

Ohio fared best in the areas of regulatory environment and growth prospects. It was worst in economic climate — I'm not clear why there would be such a divergence in the areas of “growth prospects” and “economic climate,” but these rankings aren't always logical — and labor supply. The labor issue appears to be a particularly critical one for Ohio, as the state was ranked 47th in this category.

Forbes.com compiled the rankings from 10 data sources, leaning most heavily on research firm Moody's Analytics.

The top state, for the third straight year, was Utah, followed by Virginia and North Dakota. The biggest gainer was Indiana, which jumped 16 spots to No. 18.

Since Michigan's right-to-work legislation is a hot topic this week, Forbes.com points out that nine of the top 10 states have right-to-work laws on the books. (The exception is Colorado, at No. 5.) Of the bottom 10 states, only one — Mississippi — is a right-to-work state.